


Book Angel

by SilverWolf7



Series: Angel, Demon, Iron Man [1]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous Aziraphale and Crowley Relationship (Good Omens), Anxiety Attacks, Aziraphale is bad at hiding he is not human, Aziraphale's Bookshop (Good Omens), Cortisol vs Adrenaline, Flashbacks, Gen, He doesn't want to admit it though, Iron Man 3, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Panic Attacks, Post-Almost Apocalypse (Good Omens), Timeline? What Timeline?, Tony Stark Has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:21:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25802050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverWolf7/pseuds/SilverWolf7
Summary: Stark Industries is going to fix the telecommunication problems London has.  It's a business meeting and small holiday.  Lucky the meeting is done with when it started raining after a bad night.  Okay, so yes, he might have a bit of a mental health problem.  Thankfully, he runs into the one shop on the planet ran by a guy so far behind everything, he is not known.Fell gives him time, space, food and a drink before he leaves again.
Relationships: Aziraphale & Crowley (Good Omens), James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Series: Angel, Demon, Iron Man [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1871938
Comments: 20
Kudos: 149





	Book Angel

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so timeline is all screwed up. This is, in MCU timeline the beginning of Iron man 3. None of the Aldrich Killian stuff happens in this verse, Bruce doesn't fall asleep during a pseudo therapy session, and Tony realises he needs to do something about the anxiety attacks before they get way out of control. 
> 
> The Battle of New York happened in 2018, during the whole Apocalypse that wasn't. So there was a longer time period between Iron Man 2 and Avengers and a shorter one between Avengers and Iron Man 3. Winter Soldier hasn't happened yet, so the Avengers are basically doing their own things and the team is led by SHIELD, which is still not known to be Hydra. 
> 
> So, the world knows about aliens, superheroes are around with varying different powers, Heaven and Hell still haven't caught on. Crowley on the other hand, has.
> 
> This will be a series.

It was, as far as business meetings went, just as long and boring as any of them. This one though had the added bonus of getting him out of New York for a while. Maybe he should move out of the tower for a bit and go back to Malibu. Or, maybe he should stay here in dreary London for a little bit longer than his three days allotted.

Rats had done a number on the telecommunication towers in London over a decade ago. He had no idea why it was deemed important that they change it for the better only now, but apparently that was the way the cookie crumbled. Or, well, the biscuit he supposed. While in Rome and all.

So far, he had managed to get the deal so he would revolutionise the telecommunication industry in London, upgraded their phone designs and added in a few apps for fun. All up, London was going to have a massive upgrade to their phones.

He'd have to tell Pepper later on that night that he had gotten the deal through. She had stayed behind in New York, letting him do the talking for once. Since she took over as CEO, he was asked less and less to do this kind of work. It made him happier just being the head of R&D. He had less work to do and the work he had was work he generally liked. 

He had told Pepper he wanted to get out of New York, no matter where that led him, so here he was doing one of the not so well liked parts of the job but on probably one of the first holidays he had gotten in a while. He had two days now to do whatever the hell he wanted.

Could Afghanistan be called a holiday? Worst one ever if so. 

He had walked from the office he had spent the majority of the day in to a little cafe for a coffee and was walking back to the hotel he was staying at which wasn't that far away, sipping on his purchase when it happened.

It started raining.

This, in itself, wasn't surprising. It was England after all, which was rather famous for always raining. He had been more shocked that it hadn't actually rained regardless of being gray and overcast all day before this point.

What did surprise him was that he had accidentally forgot his umbrella. He had bought it with him specifically just in case it started raining when he was out. But it hadn't been raining when he had decided to walk to the office building and it hadn't rained all day so he moronically thought that meant it wouldn't rain at all.

He had left it in the office like an idiot.

He was fine for about five minutes, picking up his walking speed a bit and hoping to get back to the hotel before it started raining heavily. Unfortunately, like with everything in his life, he wasn't that lucky. It went from barely spitting to sudden downpour in about two seconds and he was suddenly very wet, very exposed and very much about to have a freak out in the middle of the sidewalk. 

He also did the first thing instinct told him to do and ran. Thankfully, instead of running out into the road and getting hit by a car, he ran for the nearest shop, bumped into it, opened the door and slammed it closed behind him. He locked the door, dove to the floor and closed his eyes.

Last night had been a bad night with nightmares kicking his ass. If it had been about Loki's alien invasion thing, he'd probably be fine right now, but no. It was Afghanistan instead come back to haunt him. He blamed the weather, he really did. He didn't like getting wet when he kept on thinking about being waterboarded, especially with the thought of the arc reactor nestled in his chest.

He covered his chest with a hand, felt the shirt was wet and the anxiety attack he was having went into a full blown panic attack. 

A hand tried to touch him and he slapped it away, cowering at the door as he tried to just breathe. Breathe through the water, the fear, the battery attached to him, the hole in his chest, the push of his lungs in unnatural states. He hadn't had a proper day breathing right since Afghanistan and he refused to let that stop him breathing for good. He just needed to keep on sucking in air.

This was different to the other attack he had with Rhodey. The other one he didn't know what triggered it off for a start. It came out of nowhere and ended just the same. It had scared him, but it had passed and he had thought it was a onetime thing.

This was worse. This one was based on actual events he could see in his head, felt like they were happening to him all over again. He was best friends with someone in the defence force. He'd have to ask. He didn't want to, but this was getting out of control.

He was beginning to retain information other than the fact that he was speaking, only to get that he was saying no over and over again. When he realised that, he shut his mouth with a loud click that echoed around the shop. It still took him another five minutes to calm down enough to actually take in his surroundings.

All up, it lasted longer than the other attack too. 15 minutes, damn it. 

"My dear fellow, are you alright now?"

He blinked. It had literally been decades since no one recognised him and yet here he was cowering on the floor of the one shop in London run by the one guy that seemed to have no idea Tony Stark was currently having just gotten over a panic attack all over his door.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry. Needed to get out of the rain for a bit. Got a bit...panicky. Did not mean to do that, by the way. Tell no one." 

He looked up at the man, now that he had his breath back, as much as he normally did nowadays anyway and blinked again. Then he looked around the shop he had gone running into. Everything in it was...old. Books as far as the eye could see, plus a lot of other antiques. Up to and including the well tended but still far out of fashion clothes the man in front of him was wearing.

"The 1850's called. They want their clothes back," he said, before clicking his mouth shut fast. 

"Also, I talk a lot and say inappropriate stuff when I am uncomfortable, and I...need to get off the floor now." He slowly got his knees under him so he could lever himself up. He almost fell over from a kneeling position which was doubly embarrassing.

He was still reeling from what happened. He hated admitting it even in his own head, but he was feeling fragile right now. Like a gentle gust of wind would push him back down and shatter him into a million different pieces that could never be put back together again in the right way.

That was a really depressing thought and he needed to not be thinking of feeling fragile right now. "So, did I travel in time accidentally or something? Known my luck that actually happened."

"Oh, no my dear boy. It's still exactly the same year as it was when you came in. Were you running from someone? Are you in trouble?" the oddly dressed man asked.

He let out a little cough of embarrassment. "Nope. No chasing, no angry mobs, no nothing. I accidentally left my umbrella at the business meeting I left."

He got a nod at that. "Ah, getting out of the rain. Yes it did start just coming down hard. It should peter off soon and you can go back to your hotel."

He blinked at that. "Yeah, going back. And now you're reminding me I have two days with nothing to do. Well, this is a great way of taking my mind off of...things." He wasn't going to survive this holiday. Two days of nothing. He won't make it.

"Well, with the rain still going on strong out there, why not come in properly. Take off your jacket and have some freshly made hot cocoa. I will bring out some scones too, if you like."

He frowned. "I don't even know what a proper English scone is. So, sure, I'll have that. Also a hot drink would be great. I dropped my coffee. I just remembered I was even holding coffee."

The strange man just nodded and smiled at him, which frankly began creeping him out a tiny bit. A hand was reaching out, likely just to usher him in, but he was so not up to being touched right then. Especially around the head and shoulders. He dodged the arm and grinned. "I don't want to be touched right now," he actually said out loud, because he was sure if it wasn't said this stranger would walk all over him.

The hand was slowly withdrawn but accepted. That was nice. Sometimes people would touch him despite his saying he didn't want it, just because he was who he was. That had lessened a lot when he got in a relationship with Pepper, thankfully. "Oh, yes, of course. Sorry, dear fellow. Come in, come in. is there anything you would like to do while here to help...settle your nerves, so to speak."

"A dry pair of clothing not from over a hundred years ago to change into would be great. Despite popular opinion, I don't only wear flashy suits. Oh, and towels to dry off with. It's the whole being wet thing that set me off."

He was stared at for a moment. "For someone afraid of water, you sure are clean."

He laughed at that and shook his head. "No, not afraid of water. It's suddenly having my head wet. I was fine when it was just spitting, but when it started raining hard, I was gone." He had no idea why he was saying so much about himself to this stranger, except for the part where he was a total stranger. 

"Oh! That's an unusual thing to have, but that's so very human, isn't it. Well, I'll show you to the bathroom. It's on the third floor where the rest of the living space is. Come, I'll show you. You can borrow a towel to dry yourself and I will make sure there are some nice, warm clothes for you waiting by the door. Take as much time as you need."

Warm dry clothes and being dry sounded just about the two things he wanted right then, so he nodded at the offer. "That sounds great." 

Nodding the odd stranger then gestured to a room just off the bookshop, which held behind the door a stairway upstairs. The next level up was home to even more books. The one after that was the apartment. Which still looked like an old fashioned library, but had a lot more other stuff. Like a proper kitchen and not the little coffee nook he had seen near the stairs. 

He was shown where the bathroom was and everything needed was in there and neat and clean and he instantly felt more himself at seeing some things that weren't old fashioned. The shower and sink looked new, though the old fashioned claw footed bathtub was, admittedly a nice old fashioned touch.

The towels were big, fluffy and warm. 

"Well, I will leave you to it then. Take as much time as you need. I'll be downstairs in the shop, making the cocoa and getting the scones ready. I'll leave a tracksuit outside the door for you to put on."

With that the door was closed on him and Tony was left, for the first time since that morning, on his lonesome. He suddenly realised that he truly didn't want to be alone. He did wait until he heard the sound of rustling outside the door, before opening it to see a plain grey sweatsuit ensemble at the door. He relaxed. While he was sure they would be slightly too big for him, he was looking forward to wearing some baggy clothing to hide and keep warm in. He picked the clothes up, noting that there was also a new pack of boxers with tiny little snakes on them and a plain grey crewneck shirt.

There were no shoes or socks, so he'd have to find something to keep his feet warm while he waited for his shoes to dry a little, but it wasn't his feet that were the problem. 

He took very little time in stripping. He used one of the big, fluffy towels to dry himself off and after he was changed in all the soft, warm clothing, he kept up with drying his hair. He still didn't feel right. Better, but not right.

Even after his hair was as towel dried as it as going to get, he kept the hoodie of the sweatshirt up to cover his head and instead of going down for a hot drink, he ended up pacing in the bathroom, not wanting to stop moving, though not wanting the company of total strangers either.

His eyes kept on falling on the pants he had been wearing before, seeing his phone poking through the top of a pocket. He could have a talk with JARVIS or maybe....what was the time in America anyway? 

He pulled his phone out and checked the time (it was half past 3 in the afternoon, oh joy) before deciding fuck it and calling his bestie up regardless of the time there. Thankfully it was drilled into his head it was only 5 hours difference, so it was neither late nor early for either of them. It was as good a time as any.

"Tones! How'd the meeting go? You should be out of it now, right?" Rhodey asked as soon as he picked up the call.

He sighed. "The meeting went well. Got the deal in and it's all fine. I just had a panic attack."

There was silence for a few long seconds, before a sigh was heard. "Tony, you know there is a difference between cortisol and adrenaline, right?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes. And it started off like before, being an anxiety attack. But it turned into a full blown screaming panic attack half way through."

There was another silent few second, before Rhodey let out a loud groan. "Seriously? Okay, what triggered it?"

"I left my umbrella behind. It started pouring. It was like suddenly being dunked in water. Flight and fight kicked in and I ran like usual. Ran into a shop thankfully and not out into traffic, but then I touched my chest and it was wet and I was back in Afghanistan being waterboarded with a battery strapped to my chest and I just lost it completely and what the hell is wrong with me?"

"Wait, so you started having anxiety by getting drenched, which led into a panic attack when you realised your chest was wet too which led into a flashback about being tortured?"

He blinked down at the phone, because he suddenly wished he hadn't called Rhodey at all. "That was a flashback? I thought that was how panic attacks went."

"Tony..."

He sighed loudly. "Don't say it, Rhodey. Not now at least..."

"Last time, after Afghanistan, you were able to take all that trauma and put it to something great and better. You dealt with that by becoming Iron Man, and it worked for you. After the Battle of New York, you can't do that, can you? You are already Iron Man. Iron Man saved the world from invading aliens. And you saw what no one else saw. None of us can even imagine what you saw on the other end of that portal, Tony. We have no references."

He was left speechless for a while himself after that one. Because holy shit, he never even thought of it that way before. He remembered all the PTSD talk after Afghanistan only to get people to drop it when he became Iron Man. 

He had still had nightmares, of course. Horrible nightmares that kept him up, but they had gotten better slowly over time. And then the Battle of New York happened. It's been a few months now since the whole thing with Loki ended. Rhodey was right, damn it. "It's not getting better this time, Rhodey."

Rhodey let out the most sympathetic noise Tony had ever heard out of his best friend's mouth and he wanted him there to wrap up in a big hug and never let go because... "Okay, I don't say this lightly, platypus, but I'm kind of terrified right now."

"It's okay to be scared Tony. You're going through a bad time and it isn't getting better. It sounds like it's getting worse. Just...call me when you can, okay? I'll be here when you get home and we can lounge around the tower and find something that works, alright?"

Tony rubbed at his face, suddenly exhausted. "I don't know if there is anything this time. But, yeah, I'll keep the line open."

Rhodey laughed in his ear at that, a nice, encouraging sound rather than picking fun. He needed more of that laugh in his life. "That's all I ask, Tony. For you to keep your phone on, keep the line of communication going and don't let yourself fall into a black pit and try to push us out again like when you were dying."

He groaned loudly at that. "You are never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"Nope. I will never stop reminding you that you have friends who care. Get used to it."

With that said, Tony began to feel warm and happy. Okay, so maybe he was just glad he actually managed to hold onto a few of his relationships through life. He was well aware he sucked at it and had a tendency towards pushing people away. "Yeah, thanks. I needed to hear that right now."

"Glad to be of assistance. Listen, Pepper just arrived to kick me out so the cleaners can do their job for the day. I've got to go, but you have fun on your two days off and keep in touch about exactly what you're doing."

He grinned at the floor. "Yeah okay. You have a fun day too."

"Tony...if you need me to stay on the line right now, I can."

He shook his head, and the grin didn't leave his face. "Nah, you go have a good day. I'm alright for now. I feel a lot better already. Just...needed to talk about it I guess."

"Well, Pepper wants to talk to you, but I'm sure she is expecting your call tonight."

He groaned at that. "Great. Look, I know I should do it, but I am so not up to this whole conversation again. Can you tell her and I'll hash through things tonight along with the business end of things?"

"Tony...fine, I'll tell her before we leave now. But you're going to have to talk to her about it."

"Yeah, I know. She's had to deal with everything else and I don't like piling more stuff on top of the nightmares..."

"That's how romantic relationships work, Tony."

"So you say. So she says. Still makes no sense to me at all. I'm trying. She knows that, right? I'll ask her tonight if she knows that."

"Tony, she knows. She's also giving me the eye right now, so I'm going to hang up, okay? Bye."

"Yeah okay. Have fun with Pepper. Bye."

With that, he was suddenly once again alone in the bathroom. Taking as deep a breath as he could, he tucked the towel into the hamper he found and hoped the guy downstairs actually had spare towels.

He was feeling a lot better after having been assured that Rhodey was still in his corner, regardless of his slipping mental health. At least there were some people in his life he hadn't chased away. 

It was time to join civilisation again, even if that meant one strange man in a bookshop whose latest book was probably from 1850. That idea...actually didn't seem to bother him much. His idea of a good time reading went more towards science than old fashioned fiction, but whatever this man liked he could have. 

Opening the door, he refrained from exploring, put off mostly by dust, and thumped his way heavily down the stair until he was back in the bookstore. He looked quickly at the nearby coffee nook and found it empty. He frowned. "Hello?"

"In here!" came an answering voice and he followed it to a little corner behind the stacks. There was a door he hadn't even noticed. It was a well lived in lounge room. A desk, a table with two chairs and a couch. He raised an eyebrow dropped onto the couch and sighed. It was a lot more comfortable than it looked.

"Hmmm, thanks for the clothes. Nice and warm now."

He got a beaming smile in reply to that. "Oh, good, I am glad they reasonably fit. Here, I just finished making the cocoa and scones."

And there spread out on the table and now only just hitting his nose with the smell were little cake biscuit things with cream and proper jam. He knew that. There was also a clump of butter. Beside the two plates were large mugs of steaming hot cocoa. He blinked. "Wait, how long was I in the bathroom for?"

"Oh the scones are just quickly thrown together they took around 30 minutes, but I had already started them before you arrived so they're not piping hot, don't worry about that. I started the cocoa a little later to give you some time to yourself."

He nodded at that, feeling better about not having this stranger go out of his way just for him, before he took a look at the food and frowned. "So do you eat it with all this, or just one thing or pick and choose?"

"Oh, you can definitely pick or choose. Try different things. I personally go for all three." With that, he watched this strange man take one of the scones, lather it with butter, put a dollop of cream on, followed by a spoonful of jam with bits of actual strawberry in it. 

He looked down at them and decided to start big. He followed the man. It was better than he thought. He would have to remember to try these with a different kind of jam with Pepper if she ever decides to come here or get scones. He still had to regularly remind himself that Pepper was allergic to strawberries.

The next one he had it without the butter. He liked that one better. He grabbed another one just to have butter on its own. He didn't much care for that one though, so he grabbed a fourth and chose his favourite. And that was definitely his lunch for the day, because they were more filling than they looked.

He had drank the hot drink between bites of food. It stayed hot no matter how much time passed, which was weird, but everything about this situation was weird. Also, he was pretty sure that this man wasn't human.

He hoped it wasn't magic. He hadn't liked magic since Loki. Now, science he could get behind. His mind suddenly coming up with normal looking mugs that kept liquid hot inside them while still open to the air. That'd be a great thing to make. No need for a lid or travel mugs that don't actually work properly...

"You seem deep in thought."

He grinned. "I am going to make and patent this, just so you know."

The man in front of him blinked. "Make and patent what? Scones? I am pretty sure that has already been done. Same for cocoa too for that matter."

"Nope. Mugs that keep hot drinks hot."

He had never seen such a wide grin on the face of someone who he could potentially be taking an idea from. "Oh, that would be marvellous. I will buy one for sure if you manage it."

He blinked at that. "If? You really don't know who I am if you put if in front of a sentence after I said I will make something. There is no if, only when." 

Nodding, the man started piling the used plates together in the centre of the table. "Then may I have your name?"

He grinned. "Nope, my name is my name, but I can tell you what it is. I'm Tony Stark."

"Oh! My...partner's name is Anthony. It's a lovely name, except he just goes by Crowley."

He wondered if this guy was so afraid of how people would treat him for being gay (though it was quite obvious to him, really and he is a lot of things but homophobic is not one of them) but the pause on partner reminded him of his dad.

"Okay, first, I'm American, we pronounce the h over there. Second don't call me Anthony, third, I'm not homophobic, I don't care who you do in your private life, or public life for that matter. You do you."

The man blinked at him for that and Tony wondered if what he said had been overly rude. "Oh! We're not together as a couple. It's very confusing and complicated. Right now, we just work together. Sort of."

Not expecting that at all, he frowned. "Oh! Well, good luck on asking him out then. And look at that the rain is stopping. I should really get going back to the hotel."

He had his phone tucked into a pocket in the sweat pants. He couldn't be bothered going back up the stairs to get his clothes. Thankfully, he had carried his shoes down here with him, even if it meant wearing cold, wet socks for a while.

He quickly put them on, while the man watched. The socks and shoes were dry and warmed and he glared. "And don't do that to my things. I don't like people mucking around with my things."

"Dreadfully sorry. I just don't want you to get a chill. Oh! Wait a moment. You need an umbrella. There should be one by the door you can use."

He looked around before finally finding the way out again. Next to the door was a bin filled with old umbrellas. Shrugging, he took one out, a beat up grey thing that went with the clothes he was wearing. 

He was just about to leave when he was called back. "Oh, my dear boy, I forgot! You gave me your name, I never gave you mine. I am Aziraphale. Most people around here just call me Mr. Fell though, as it is what is written on the door sign. Good day to you!"

He paused at that name, because things were beginning to add up in his mind. "Huh. Well, thanks for that. It helps. See ya." He waved to air, but thought the point would be well made regardless.

He was almost to the door, when the little bell above it rang before he got there and a tall man in dark clothes and sunglasses darker than his own red ones entered. He stared at this new guy and heard him call out "Angel, you in?" before he noted Tony standing there.

He could feel the blink in his direction, before he heard the stuttered "Holy shit, what is Tony Stark doing here?"

Tony raised a hand to his chest and let out a gasp. "Holy shit, you have got to be Crowley. Well hi! The angel's in the back room eating scones and drinking cocoa."

With that said, he walked out of the shop. He stopped outside it to take a photo of the bookshop from across the street. The sign above the shop was ancient, dirty and probably the original one. A. Z. Fell and Co. On the sides was an added purveyor of fine books to the gentry.

He shook his head with a grin. He also snapped a photo of the roads it was on so he could get back. 

The bookshop one he put on his Twitter with an added note. 

Ran by a literal angel. Thanks for the help, Mr. Fell. #London #Soho #bookshop #cryptids #bookangel


End file.
